Dejah

The rest of the 2024 story! BBQ Pork ribs in the oven, siu choy, quick pickled mini cukes, Jasmine rice Pickerel Fish'n'Chips with our usual curry gravy and malt vinegar. Peas seems to be usual veg! Last meal of 2024: 4 hour oven-braised Thai Coconut Curry Lamb Shanks with carrots and celery. Jasmine rice and fresh mint sauce to cut the richness of the coconut milk. Paratha was useful in sopping up the gravy!

Come on up!

Always seem to be pressed for time when the house is full of adult kids and grandkids. This Xmas was especially distracting as the headliner was our 4 month old grandson and his first visit to our house! Also, we were ecstatic with our 2nd son and family here from St. John's NFLD after not seeing them for 2 years. So, just as long as food was prepared and on the table, we weren't concerned about table settings, etc. For Xmas eve, we set out a wonton soup buffet along with Char Siu Baos I made early in the morning. Xmas Day dinner: I cooked a 9 lb and a 3 lb prime roast. My 2 sons delivered dinners over to my 87 year old brother and s-i-l as it was too physically difficult for them to come over for supper. Made 2 dozen Yorkshire Puddings early in the day, along with the gravy as I had lots of beef drippings in the fridge. Sides were simple - mashed potatoes, asparagus in the air fryer, and green beans almondine. We also had a vegetarian Shepherd's Pie for one of the granddaughters. Dessert was our usual for all family celebrations: English Trifle! If that wasn't enough to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth, we also enjoyed thin slices of Vinarterta, shortbread, butter tarts, and mincemeat tarts. There were bottles of wine, ice wine, and eldest son also brought a bottle of Bourbon for relaxing and sipping once we cleared out of the kitchen!

I did longer as the ribs were bigger pieces. I probably did 45, just by watching the liquid as it cooks down. This was a great dish!

Wishing all your wonderful foodies a Merry And Bountiful Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends. A few meals as we prepare for tomorrow! Air-fryer Chicken Ground Lamb Stuffed Buttercup Squash Smoked Turkey Cantonese Chow Mein 1 2 3 4 5 Ribs Siu Choy to go with the ribs And the Char Siu I made Char Siu into Baos! My granddaughter from Newfoundland loves these so much! I made 3 dozen. Baos accompanied by Gai Lan & Udon Noodles for a vegetarian granddaughter and a few shrimp and Char Siu for the rest of us.

Found Pork Buckeye at the local meat packers. This was the cut we used in the restaurant for Char Siu. Made up a batch for baos , for when the family all converge on the 21st. One of my granddaughters, the 11 year old, who lives in Nfld, loves these, so we will make the baos, AND sticky rice while she is here. She loves both of these, so wants to learn! ❤️ She is already learning to cook many different dishes with her Dad. I got another batch of buckeye, so her Dad (my 2nd son) will mix the marinade together today. It's hard for them to find good reasonably priced Char Siu in St. John's, Nfld Taste test: with ramen noodles! Honey Mustard Baked Chicken. A friend adds a tsp curry powder to the recipe. Will try next time as we love the smell and taste of curry. Had chicken legs and thighs left from the Honey Mustard chicken, so did a steamed dish with shitaki mushrooms and lap cheung. Sauteed gailan and rice to soak up the juices! Son arrived yesterday ahead of the family for the head office staff Xmas party. Lovely that they pay all the expenses. I had a sirloin tip roast (not a favourite cut!) and did a 30 hour sous vide at 130. It turned out well and we had it for supper when he arrived at 6. Was so busy getting the sides while visiting that I forgot to take a picture. These are the outside pieces. Looks dry but wasn't, and it was tender! Sandwiches with leftovers.

We are lucky to get pickerel fillets, quick frozen and sealed in 1 lb pkgs 3 times a year ($11.00 / lb - no bones). Sobeys also has fresh pickerel, around $15.00 / lb. I usually have several pkges, 10-15 in the freezer - quick meals!

Another snowmagedon this weekend! Time to catch up reading, admiring and posting: Portuguese Roast Chicken with Epicure spice pack: Instant Pot Black Bean Garlic Ribs and Fun See Cumin Beef Bell Pepper Stir-fry Sous Vide Pork Loin Steamed Pickerel Cantonese Style Pork Piccata - best effort this time with the balance of the sauce!

That's a thing of beauty! The whole meal was!

Quick and easy: Spicy Shrimp on Cheesy Grits, chopped salad and peas.

Come on up and over IF you can handle our winters;-) First one this week went thru', and we are hunkering down for a second one - extended long period of snow starting tonight! We have an outlet for restaurant quality foods from Sysco. We used the supplier when we had the restaurant. Picked up a case of 24 eight oz strip loin steaks for $188.00. They were on the thin size, not like when I cut my own from a whole strip loin 😉 But they are perfect for quick fry Abbreviated Steak Chasseur with home-made fries in the Ninja. From the freezer, tail-end pieces of Halibut on sale a couple of months ago. The skin was left on, and they smelled very fishy thawed. Soaked them in cold salter water, dried off, and smeared with mayo. Breaded with cracker crumbs and pan-fried. Thank goodness the fishy smell was gone, the skin peeled off easily, and supper came together with corn and rice. Sauce was VH Mango Chili dip.

@Shelby: THAT pizza you posted. I would LOVE that! Our first winter storm arrived Tues - beginning with rain, then ice pellets, then snow and blizzard winds. Main highways and many provincial roads were closed due to ice and visibility issues. Semis were parked along the shoulders from yesterday afternoon to this morning. It was a good day to stay home. I baked muffins all day, so supper was quick and easy. Butter Chicken with commercial sauce. Eaten with Cardamom Basmati rice A couple of my nieces who grew up working in our family restaurant were visiting from Calgary. Their request was for some dishes we had on our menu: #17 Soo's #17 - deep fried pork ribs (with a few chicken balls!) and some turned into #13, Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs Shrimp Egg Foo Young was another favourite as was Boneless Almond Chicken: Winnipeg Blue Bombs made it to the Grey Cup for the 5th year, but lost miserably in the last quarter! Supper was a winner tho- a single rib prime roast Lots of colds and flu hitting friends, so out came my Hot 'n' Soup Soup pot. Supper was augmented with some air fryer chicken wings with VH Chili Mango sauce. Local Co-Op had fresh lamb shanks - could never resist! Thai Coconut Curry Lamb Shanks And finally, another dish we love, but definitely a vegetable you either love or hate: Shrimp and Bitter Melon (Foo Gua) with black bean garlic sauce over rice noodles. |

Caught up reading a few pages of amazing food. Now, for some of the meals we've had: Lean ground beef on sale at one of the stores, so made up a bunch of meatballs. Had these with jar of marinera sauce and pappardelle. A new European grocery and tiny restaurant opened in the city. I went in to buy mix for potato dumplings, and came home with these Moroccan Lamb sausages, made on site. The texture and spices were good, but they were way too salty! We could eat one each - and thankful for the sauteed cabbage and couscous . Time for paella! And Persimmons are in the stores! Great for dessert time. Haven't been able to find these in town for quite some time. Was happy to find them at the new European store. We love these with stew. Made a big pot and 8 dumplings. Shared 3 servings with my brother, s-i-l, and their grandson. Been trying to get the rest of the outside stuff done while we had a day of double digit temps. Shrimp and Udon Noodles made for a quick supper.

Perfect meal!

Were busy with medical apptns, other errands, and hubby didn't feel like the steaks I had set out. So, I pulled out the 2 big chunks of bone from the saddles of lamb and made Scotch Broth. Had leeks, turnip, carrot, parsnip, celery, and it was perfect with a few oyster crackers. I enjoyed some fresh mint with mine. ! Grilled in the cast iron the 2 tenderloins I had set out for last night's supper. Baked potato, veg from the freezer, and some raw stuff. Have new shipment of pickerel coming in the next couple of weeks. Had some tonight to work down the stash! Diced up and sauteed zucchini, bell pepper, and an eggplant, and Jasmine rice = supper.

A friend gave us a package of liver, but it was cut thin. I try to get thick cut. These were cooked quickly! Eaten with onion gravy, sweet potato and Romano Beans Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemon scented Basmati rice and steamed carrots. Enjoyed the sweetness of the dried apricots and saltiness of the green olives.

I don't have the luxury of fresh shrimp here on the prairies, but I get lovely big frozen shelled ones from Sysco, the company that supplies local restaurants. They come individually frozen, with only the shell on the tails. I never bother to de-vein them unless they are really noticeable, then it's just the tip of the toothpick somewhere along the top of the shrimp, and out it comes. A friend gave us some wurst made locally at a butcher's close to their summer cottage. The butcher's name is Kurt, so the label said Kurtwurst! It was lovely, coarse grind, well seasoned, and the casing was "crisp". Didn't have red cabbage, but bok choy and a yellow zuchinni needed cooking.

Our son, who works off-site from St. John's Nfld with his company in Manitoba, was home for "their yearly summit meetings". Took the opportunity to come home for a few days, still working , then a few days off. He loves lamb while his wife and kids don't, so I feed him as much as I can with his favourite protein. Moussaka with eggplant and lamb: I had 2 saddles of lamb in the freezer. Boned both, rolled and roasted. Our oldest son and 2 daughters joined us next evening for supper. The girls didn't know it was lamb, so they ate it up and loved it! LOL! Thanksgiving was Baked Ham, Scalloped Potatoes and various vegetables. I made a BIG scalloped potato as the grands love them. Sent most of it and the ham home with them. A final meal before our son left for his flight home to Nfld: a single bone prime rib: Had picked up a case of mangoes, and they are not ripening well. A waste to use in cooking but made something with chicken: Lean Ground Beef on sale this week: $4.49 / lb. Picked up several trays, vacuum sealed some packages, then used some to stuff acorn squash. Made a threee-peppercorn gravy and eaten with Cavendish fries, peas. No point making Fish 'n' Chips while the kid was home, but we needed a fix, with pickerel!

Fall temperatures! Good time to turn on the oven for meals! Had a recipe for Butternut Squash with cranberries, pecans, and maple syrup: SO pretty and tasty. Also had a recipe for roasted beets salad with herb vinegar and burrata, but the beets weren't great , so I just drizzled on a Bourbon Maple Dark Basalmic vinegar and the burrata. Will have to go to the farmer's market tomorrow to see if I can find better beets, and more than just the red ones. The above accompanied slow roasted pork ribs. Busy day getting plants ready to come inside for the winter. Quick meal of Singapore Rice noodles and shrimp. Had some green beans that were getting a bit "old", but they worked well as julienne veg with bell peppers. Had a recipe for one pan Rosemary Chicken with Cranberry sauce. I didn't have any canned cranberry sauce, so I made my Apple Cranberry Orange Chutney. It worked!

This was my second joongzi making session. I was flying solo this year as one of my partners had moved to London, Ont, and another was away to China. In total, I made 82. The first batch of 36 were frozen and flown to my sister and family with my niece who was out visiting. Yesterday, I made up 46. Half will fly back to Nfld with my son who flew into his Wpg office for meetings then to our house next week. My 11 year old granddaughter loves joong. We taste-tested a couple for supper last night, along with a simple bok choy soup. It was a great way to end the month of September! And THAT was a WRAP for 2024! The last 22 cooling after being boiled for 2.5 hours. They have been bagged and in the fridge before going into the freezer. Supper was easy after the wrapping session!

Had a lot of shredded zucchini left after lots of baking. Didn't want to bake anything else so I made Cheesy Zucchini patties. Sauteed shrimp with Vadouvan Curry spices and stir-fried Bok Choy = supper. I became friends with a gardener on facebook a couple of years ago. She lives in Winnipeg, about 2.5 hours from me. She has sent me special lily bulbs for my flower garden, and this time, she asked to bring them out and plant them for me. In exchange, she was some guidance in doing a versatile veg stir-fry. So along with gardening chatter, we cooked up 4 dishes. She enjoyed some for supper, then packaged it all up for her to take home, to analyze and to eat for a couple of days. LOL! We put together Yaki-Udon Noodles, Cantonese Noodles and Mixed Veg, Black Bean Garlic Beef with Bell peppers, and Mushroom Fried Rice that she can ramp up. We also made Wonton Soup for lunch. After my friend left at 9 PM, hubby and I had A & W burger, fries and onion rings for supper! With leftover vegetables and a chicken breast that we didn't use, I made Chicken and Veg Stir-fry for our supper tonight. Leftover rice became friend rice with diced salted egg yolks.

Thai Coconut Grilled Pork Tenderloin. Tenderloin was in marinade (coconut milk, spices, fish sauce, and peanut butter) overnight then grilled in cast iron pan on stove. It was pouring rain when it was time to grill! House smelled wonderful. Roast chicken with West Africa Citrus Spice. Golden Boy tomatoes were delicious! Along with the gift of the golden tomatoes, I also received 3 huge zucchinis! Used up half of one last night and made Lemon Zucchini Almond loaves. Had a lovely warm slice for dessert with tea.

Thai Basil Stir-fried Chicken with Bell Peppers. I have a "Tower Thai Basil" plant with loads of leaves. I had made Hot 'n' Sour Soup for friends, and had bamboo shoots, Shitaki and Wood Ear mushrooms left. Chicken again then for supper! Busy day today! Put together all the ingredients and made 3 doz Joong (Sticky rice in bamboo leaves). We had 2 for supper, then froze the rest to send out to my sister in Burnaby, B.C. My niece is visiting and will take them back with her. It's Mid-Autumn Festival, so we had moon cakes for dessert. There are 2 varieties on the plate, but we prefer the 5-nut and seeds one. It's not as sweet. The tea is Japanese Toasted Rice green tea.

My 8 year old granddaughter loves these noodles, so it was time to learn how to cook them! She and her older sister (12) also love egg rolls and wontons. They made and Gramma deep fried. These girls are 1/4 Chinese, one blond, one red-headed!

Ground beef, tofu, and zucchini stir-fry with Toban sauce. LOTS of rice involved. Tried a new recipe last night with pork ribs. It's from Woks of Life, called 1-2-3-4-5 Ribs, cooked in the wok. They were great, sticky, a little sweet, sour, but so good with the caramelized sugar with black vinegar. Stir-fried veg odd and ends and rice to go with them. I was scraping up the last scraps of sticky sauce from the ribs!